Trending Now: See What’s Popular in New Home Offices
Find out what wall colors are hot and how people are making the most of smaller spaces
Home offices popular on Houzz are going dark and lightening up. Moody blues, charcoals and blacks are showing up on walls and cabinetry, along with the perennial whites and off-whites. Slim desks and shelving units are helping home offices look airy and open, while multipurpose and dedicated offices are utilizing space-saving built-ins. Other offices are making room for kids. Check out five hot features in the most popular photos uploaded to Houzz from January to March 2017, as measured by the number of people who have saved them to their ideabooks in that period.
Layers of color and texture draw you into this elegant yet cozy Southern California home office, den and guest bedroom. The walls, woodwork and ceiling painted in Benjamin Moore’s Mysterious Blue are complemented by furnishings and textiles in lighter blues, purples and browns. The custom desk tilts up to convert into an illustration and drafting table. A sofa bed, club chair and tufted ottoman create comfortable spots for work or relaxation.
Takeaway: Painting wall and ceiling surfaces in a dark color can counter glare in a sunlit room and create an intimate, cocoonlike feeling.
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Takeaway: Painting wall and ceiling surfaces in a dark color can counter glare in a sunlit room and create an intimate, cocoonlike feeling.
Read more about this home
A cabinet unit and a paneled wall with repeating squares bring the drama in this contemporary home office in Dallas. Bold repeating patterns also show up in the rug, draperies and painting. The dark walls, woodwork and ceiling unify and ground the high-ceilinged room.
Takeaway: Instead of a one-size-fits-all desk, consider two or more work stations for different functions. This office has a desk at the wall that could be used for computer work and one facing outward for meetings.
Takeaway: Instead of a one-size-fits-all desk, consider two or more work stations for different functions. This office has a desk at the wall that could be used for computer work and one facing outward for meetings.
2. Floating Desks and Shelves
Navy blue and black are used as accent colors in this home office and study in Melbourne, Australia. The custom floating desk and shelving unit provide work and storage space while keeping the room looking clean and uncluttered. The office is outfitted with device charging stations.
Takeaway: Keeping cabinetry below the desktop to a minimum enables more than one person to use the desk at once.
Navy blue and black are used as accent colors in this home office and study in Melbourne, Australia. The custom floating desk and shelving unit provide work and storage space while keeping the room looking clean and uncluttered. The office is outfitted with device charging stations.
Takeaway: Keeping cabinetry below the desktop to a minimum enables more than one person to use the desk at once.
This office area packs a lot of vertical storage into a small space while maintaining an open feeling in the room. The floating desk, open shelving, bulletin board and uniform storage containers keep the floor area clear and bring order to the room.
Takeaway: Mounting shelves on the side wall instead of on the wall in front of the desk keeps the work area from feeling cramped.
Takeaway: Mounting shelves on the side wall instead of on the wall in front of the desk keeps the work area from feeling cramped.
3. Modern and Contemporary Table Desks
Not everyone needs a lot of storage area for papers and supplies. In this home office in San Francisco’s Shipyard development, the minimalist style of the desk, chair, bookshelves and floor lamp nod to the neighborhood’s industrial past. An upholstered easy chair and a textural rug soften and warm the space.
Takeaway: If you do most of your work on a laptop, you may be able to skip the filing cabinets.
Not everyone needs a lot of storage area for papers and supplies. In this home office in San Francisco’s Shipyard development, the minimalist style of the desk, chair, bookshelves and floor lamp nod to the neighborhood’s industrial past. An upholstered easy chair and a textural rug soften and warm the space.
Takeaway: If you do most of your work on a laptop, you may be able to skip the filing cabinets.
Interior designer Laura Lee created this home office in her family’s 1929 Tudor-style house in Missouri. “I thought about getting a desk with file drawers, but I really wanted to keep it more open,” Lee says. She designed the contemporary desk to give herself lots of room to spread out when she’s working. The chair on the left is an antique she had re-covered in a botanical fabric; the chandelier adds another traditional touch.
Takeaway: Mixing styles, materials, colors and textures can give a room personality and life.
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Takeaway: Mixing styles, materials, colors and textures can give a room personality and life.
Read more about this home
4. Multiuse Rooms With Built-Ins
This pretty and practical home office, sewing room and craft space uses built-ins to extend its function. The homeowner works and stores supplies for her many hobbies here. The cabinetry has space for a pop-up sewing machine, files, a craft area and wall-mounted wrapping paper rolls. The stacking trunks next to the armchair hold needlepoint supplies. The bulletin board is covered in a chenille fabric.
This pretty and practical home office, sewing room and craft space uses built-ins to extend its function. The homeowner works and stores supplies for her many hobbies here. The cabinetry has space for a pop-up sewing machine, files, a craft area and wall-mounted wrapping paper rolls. The stacking trunks next to the armchair hold needlepoint supplies. The bulletin board is covered in a chenille fabric.
The sewing machine swings up from inside a cabinet.
Takeaway: Make your home office a place you want to spend time in. Set it up to serve your needs and decorate it in a way that feels comfortable to you.
Read more about this home
Takeaway: Make your home office a place you want to spend time in. Set it up to serve your needs and decorate it in a way that feels comfortable to you.
Read more about this home
In this San Francisco office-guest room, a bay window makes a pleasant spot for a drafting table. On the left is a Murphy bed that folds out when guests are staying overnight and swings back into the custom cabinetry when it’s not needed. The walls and cabinetry are painted in Benjamin Moore’s Black Pepper.
5. Room for the Kids
For parents working at home, children are inevitably part of the picture. Why not create a welcoming space for them in your office for those times when they want to hang out with you while you work? In this Australian home office, the stylish tepee, cozy area rug and pillows offer the advantage of being portable, so they can be folded up and put away.
Takeaway: You can design a children’s area to be compatible with the rest of the room, as this one is with its neutral palette and nod to Scandinavian modern style.
For parents working at home, children are inevitably part of the picture. Why not create a welcoming space for them in your office for those times when they want to hang out with you while you work? In this Australian home office, the stylish tepee, cozy area rug and pillows offer the advantage of being portable, so they can be folded up and put away.
Takeaway: You can design a children’s area to be compatible with the rest of the room, as this one is with its neutral palette and nod to Scandinavian modern style.
Kids get their own pint-size table and chairs in this family-friendly New York City home office. Lining the shelves above the kids’ seating area are games and other playthings. The dual workstations and abundant storage and display area make this SoHo office a hardworking space.
Takeaway: The greenhouse ceiling, wall-length window and neutral color palette open up the space and help prevent the room from feeling overcrowded.
Share: Did you see any ideas in these pictures that you’d use in your own home office? Post your thoughts and pictures in the Comments.
More
Key Measurements to Help You Design the Perfect Home Office
Create a Home Office That Works for You
Find more guides to home office design in the Houzz articles archive
Other Resources on Houzz
See the latest home office photos
Find design professionals near you
Browse home office products in the Shop section
Takeaway: The greenhouse ceiling, wall-length window and neutral color palette open up the space and help prevent the room from feeling overcrowded.
Share: Did you see any ideas in these pictures that you’d use in your own home office? Post your thoughts and pictures in the Comments.
More
Key Measurements to Help You Design the Perfect Home Office
Create a Home Office That Works for You
Find more guides to home office design in the Houzz articles archive
Other Resources on Houzz
See the latest home office photos
Find design professionals near you
Browse home office products in the Shop section
Dark blue walls are popping up in Houzzers’ favorite home offices. In this light-filled room, the most popular home office on Houzz in the first quarter of 2017, a vibrant blue wall of cabinetry creates depth and focus. The patterned flooring, offset rug and angled table legs add energy to the room.
Takeaway: Having a table-style desk with storage massed on the back wall makes this narrow room appear more spacious.